THE spirit of wartime comes alive at the Alban Arena next Wednesday, April 18, when We’ll Meet Again – The Diamond Jubilee Show returns by popular demand.

It stars Marilyn Hill Smith from the West End tour of The Sound of Music and the cast includes comedian Adam Daye. They will be recreating the music and memories that were vital during the darkest days of wartime and celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

The show begins at 2.30pm and tickets at6 �12.50 with concessions �11 are available from the Arena box office on 01727 844488 or online at www.alban-arena.co.uk

The original Strawbs 1970s line up is appearing at The Alban Arena at 7.45pm next Friday, April 20.

David Cousins, along with lead guitarist Dave Lambert and Chas Cronk, will come on stage at 7.45pm.

In their fifth decade of music-making, The Strawbs have been one of Britain’s most successful international progressive folk-rock bands, often mentioned in the same breath as progressive rock bands like Yes, King Crimson, and the Moody Blues.

The band started life as the Strawberry Hill Boys playing bluegrass before moving into the mainstream by making the first Strawbs album with Sandy Denny in 1967, a year before she recorded her first album with Fairport Convention.

The band has a devoted fan base that continues to grow on the strength of albums like Grave New World, Bursting At The Seams, Hero And Heroine, and Ghosts and classic songs such as Lay Down, A Glimpse Of Heaven, and Benedictus.

Tickets are �18.50 and �16.50.

Amateur Transplants frontman Adam Kay is bringing his own brand of smutty songs to the Arena at 8pm next Saturday, April 21.

In the decade since Adam began performing, Amateur Transplants have developed a large fan base and performed sell-out tours and Edinburgh Festival seasons.

His cutting edge re-imaginings of pop and rock classics have gained him a cult following across the UK with his London Underground Song continuously in the iTunes comedy top ten since 2008. Tickets are �16.

n Award-winning novel and film The Help will be screened at the Arena at 1.30pm and 7.30pm next Tuesday, April 17, and at 7.30pm next Wednesday, April 18.

Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, Skeeter (Emma Stone) is a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer but turns her friends’ lives – and a Mississippi town – upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families.

Aibileen (Viola Davis), Skeeter’s best friend’s housekeeper, is the first to open up to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit black community. Despite Skeeter’s life-long friendships hanging in the balance, she and Aibileen continue their collaboration and soon more women come forward to tell their stories.

Tickets are �5 for matinees and �7 with concessions �5 for evening performances.